This invention relates to a floor sweeper with an integral housing.
It is aleady known to construct a floor sweeper having an upper housing of molded plastic, and having a separate curved deflector member of metal suitably secured to the underside of the housing and positioned to deflect dirt and debris into the dust pan.
In addition, it is also known, as in the above-identified U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,454, to construct a floor sweeper having separate molded plastic upper and lower housing portions, with the lower portion having an integral curved deflecting wall extending upwardly in front of the brush.
Furthermore, it is known to provide raised shoulders in the floor of the sweeper dust pan to reduce shifting of dust and debris in the pan toward the rotary brush, as in the above-identified U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,047.
It is a task of the present invention to provide a simpler and more convenient floor sweeper structure having fewer parts, which eliminates the separate metal deflector in one instance, and which eliminates the separate lower housing portion in another instance.
It is a further task of the present invention to reduce shifting of dust and debris in the dust pan, not only toward but also away from the rotary brush.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the floor sweeper is constructed with a plastic housing having a top and downwardly extending rear and end walls. The front end portion of the housing is uniquely formed with the front edge of the top set back from the sweeper periphery, said edge merging into an integral deflector which extends downwardly beneath the housing adjacent the rotary brush. The lower extremity of the deflector is connected to the front peripheral housing portion by an integral platform which, together with the deflector, forms an elongated transversely extending trough-like channel on the upper exposed side of the housing front end. The channel is provided with strengthening ribs.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the channel has end walls which are spaced inwardly from the housing end walls to form downwardly facing wheel-receiving recesses. The front sweeper wheels are freely mounted on the ends of an axle which extends through the channel and its end walls, with the wheels being trapped within their respective recesses.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, the channel is provided with a removable cover of flexible stretchable material, both for appearances sake and to prevent dust and debris from entering the channel. The cover is resilient and further serves as a bumper for the front of the sweeper.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a dust pan is disposed behind the rotary brush, with the top side of the pan bottom forming a floor having a raised transverse rib which helps prevent shifting of dust and debris either toward or away from the brush. The under side of the rib beneath the pan forms a slot which receives the axle for the rear sweeper wheels.